Spiderman: In Between Disasters
by Tenshi no Mugen
Summary: Things start out as a typical summer for the citizens in New York. Then something goes wrong in the life of a certain spandex clad superhero's friend, and he knows just how to help. Not a SpideyOC. Based on the movies, spoilers for both.
1. Sasha

Spiderman 1.5(Sasha's story)

Summery: Things start out as a typical summer for Sasha, the daughter of a VP at the Daily Bugle. Then something goes wrong, something that a certain spandex clad super hero knows just what to help with. Not a SpideyOC. Based on the movies, spoilers for the first and second, kinda...

Warnings: Nothing particularly bad for the whole story. A couple curse words, some bloodand insinuated death.

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1st person: Sasha's POV

Well, I've finally gotten around to this. I'm so bored that I'm explaining things to myself in a journal. It's kind of sad. How should I begin? I guess some background information would probably be good.

I go by the name of Sasha Marie Morieta. I'm 17 years old, 5'4" with year-round tan skin and long medium-brown hair (thanks to my Mom) with grey eyes (supposedly from my dad). Despite all of this, I am definitely not your average teenage girl. But then again I have never really considered myself normal.

My parents didn't exactly plan for me, but a day after my mother realized that she was pregnant she found out that dear old Daddy was crooked. With the help of the police, she left him and ran to Chicago. We stayed there for a while under the watch of both the police and Daddy's thugs. Both did nothing to the other, so they left us alone mostly.

At 4 I started getting gymnastics lessons, while Mom worked her way up in a computer company. Then, when I was 6 he took more of an interest in us. Apparently he saw something me that confirmed us as 'family'. We came "home" to New York under aliases so he couldn't find us again. We figured he wouldn't look in his own backyard fro runaways.

I know. You're asking, "What does this have to do with you explaining things to yourself?" Well, about two months ago my typical summer was interrupted by a strange incident involving a spider. Let's just say it ended up changing a few things...

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3rd person POV: _Flashback_

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"Come on, Mom! I want to see the microscope sometime this week," Sasha said, pulling her mother past the other observers. "It's the biggest one on the eastern seaboard!"

She could practically feel her mother roll her eyes behind her. "I will never understand why you feel the need to explore machinery. Just don't dismantle their computers like you did ours," her mother said wryly.

Sasha grimaced in recollection. She had been grounded for a month for pulling that little stunt. "Hey, at least I put it back together the same day. Remember when I started on my car? When I tried to install the new stereo system myself, I left it dismantled for three weeks before finishing it," Sasha reminded her.

"I remember you refusing to drive it until it could play music "properly". Cost me a fortune in subway and bus fair," her mother chuckled. "Then when you finished it you played Limp Bizket's "Just One of Those Days" at 18 decibels. At 6:30 am," she stressed.

"Hey, I was leaving for school, so it's not like you heard it for long," Sasha retorted, and then she noticed something unusual. "Ooh, look at the cool spiders. Hey, it looks just like the design on Spiderman's costume!" she exclaimed.

Her mother leaned a little closer to the glass. "It does! How odd," she mused. Then she smirked at Sasha. "By the way, while we're on the subject of Spyders, you owe me by the end of the month for payments on that car of yours. I told you I was only paying for 1/3 of the cost."

Sasha nodded her mind still on the spiders in the glass cage. Then she noticed one of the cages was empty. "Hey, take a look at this cage. There's nothing in it!" Her mom leaned over to get a better look at it, before confirming her daughter's statement.

"You're right. Maybe it died," she speculated. "Or maybe it got loose," Sasha contemplated. They exchanged looks, then shrugged. Sasha began to study the room more completely.

_Hmm, there's an old web up in that niche over there, but it looks torn,_ Sasha thought, moving to stand beneath it. In front of her she saw a TV screen depicting how the spiders' DNA had been modified. In the background she vaguely registered that her mother was talking to someone, most likely a scientist.

"Can I help you?" asked a voice behind her. Sasha jumped, dropping her purse in the process. It was a biogenetics scientist who was working on the spiders. "Oh! No, thank you. I was just looking at the DNA structures on the screen," Sasha lied. The scientists nodded and walked off.

Sasha looked down to find the contents of her purse scattered around her feet. ''Damn," she muttered, leaning over to gather her various pencils, pens, and makeup. Then she spotted it. There underneath the stand the TV was on was a spider munching on a fly. It was red and blue just like the genetically enhanced ones!

Sasha looked around to see if anyone was watching her, then pulled an empty film tube from her purse. Within 2 seconds she herded the little thing in and snapped it shut. "I guess I'll be pulling out my old microscope. I want to see what you're made of," she muttered to herself, stowing the tube.

"Come on, Sasha, let's go. I want to get some lunch before going back to work,'' said her mother from the door to the outside. Sasha stood and followed her mother to her car, a BMW 528i.

After stopping at Panara's for a soup in Sasha's case and a salad in her mother's case, they went back to the Daily Bugle where her mother worked. Being the Vice President of the programming division, she was allowed to take extended lunch breaks. In fact, the only thing her mother complained about was J.J. Jameson, the editor.

''Alright, babe, why don't you go on home and finish cleaning your room? If you finish before you go to work, I'll bring you home pizza," said her mom, locking her car before heading for the elevator of the garage. Sasha followed, nodding her head absently. "Yeah, sure mom."

When the elevator dinged, the doors slid open to reveal a disheveled Peter Parker. Sasha's mother raised an eyebrow at his appearance while Sasha shook her head and smiled. "Have you been taking the subway again, Pete?" she asked in greeting.

The 20 year old young man grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I always end up looking like this afterward, don't I?" Sasha pressed the button for her mom's office. "I'll give you a ride home, Peter, just give me a minute to get my jacket from Mom's office."

''Thanks, but you don't have to do that," he replied fidgeting. Sasha grinned evilly. "Oh, I insist. Besides, I have to see your aunt anyways. I've got her candy that she ordered. You know how much she loves her band chocolate!" Peter laughed. "Oh, I know."

The elevator stopped at the programmers' floor. "See ya up top in a few, Pete," Sasha said. "Bye, Parker," added her mother. "Bye Ms. Morieta, see ya Sash'!" Peter said just as the doors closed.

"Why do you still do band?" Sasha's mother asked as they walked to her office. Sasha let out an exasperated sigh. _I just had to bring up band, didn't I?_ Sasha thought.

"Mom, it's one of the things I'm good at. I'm the only oboe because nobody else wants to play it. I can't just leave them hanging!" Sasha said. "But you're so smart you could be doing a million other things that would look good on a college resume," her mother replied, not expecting to get anywhere, but arguing anyways.

After she grabbed her jacket and said her goodbye's, Sasha headed to the elevator to get Peter. When she reached the top floor, Peter was already at the secretary's desk getting paid.

Sasha waited politely until he was done, then asked him, "What crap is Jameson writing about Spiderman this time?" Peter sighed as they headed for the elevator. "Same as always. Menace, fraud, coward. It's really annoying," he concluded as the elevator doors closed.

When they got to the garage, Sasha led him to her Mitsubishi Spyder. "I know something that will cheer you up! I finished rewiring my stereo system and I finally bought Green Day's 'American Idiot' CD," she exclaimed. She unlocked her car and popped her trunk to show him her competition style speakers.

"Wow," he commented. Peter may have been tight for money but he still knew good speakers when he saw them and Sasha's were top of the line. Sasha shut the trunk and grinned at him. "Come into my layer," Sasha intoned. "Said the spider to the fly," finished Peter, grinning back at her.

As soon as the two were strapped in Sasha turned on the car and cranked the stereo to the maximum volume aloud in New York. Their exit was noticed by everyone in the parking garage.

As they made their way out of the city, they made small talk over "Holiday". Then it occurred to Sasha. "Hey, did Spiderman ever say how he got his powers?"

Peter looked a little startled at the question. "No, why?" Sasha ignored the question, "Do you know anyways?" Peter gave her an intense look. "I have a theory, but that's it. Now stop dodging and tell me why."

Sasha giggled at the commanding tone of his voice. Ever since she met him when he was bringing in those first pictures of Spiderman, she'd taken a liking to him (in a brother-sister kind of way). Since then they had been fast friends, always looking out for each other. According to Peter, they both had 'trouble magnets'.

"I'll tell you why if you tell me the theory!" Sasha shot him a grin, "Big bro." The 'big bro-little sis' bit was an on-going joke between them. Whenever one of them got to nosy or overprotective they would bring up the sibling thing.

Peter rolled his eyes and chuckled. ''Fine lil' sis. My guess is he was genetically mutated. Long jumping capabilities, webbing, and from what he tells me a precognitive sense all come from varying spiders. Now will you tell me why?" he noticed her grow uncomfortable as he listed Spiderman's (a.k.a. his) abilities. ''Is something wrong?" he asked anxiously. _What if she was bitten, too?_ he thought.

Sasha's cheeks flushed. ''No! Nothing's wrong. It's just that Mom and I went to that place with the electron microscope during lunch and we saw some genetically enhanced spiders. They looked a lot like the design on Spiderman's back," she explained. "One of them was missing," she added quietly. If Peter's hearing hadn't been as good as it was he would never have caught it over the music.

A few minutes later they pulled into his Aunt May's house. After Mr. Osborn died, Peter was constantly hounded by Harry asking where Spiderman was. So, finally, he left and was currently searching for an apartment he could afford.

Sasha turned off the car and gracefully exited. "Had any luck finding an apartment?" she asked. Peter got out and shut his door, sighing. ''No, but I've been saving up so I can start making payments when I find one that's cheap enough," he said, walking up to the door. Sasha followed him in.

The second Aunt May saw Sasha she smiled. "Sasha! You brought Peter home on time, for once. You're such an angel. Every time he takes the subway he looks like he stepped on the 3rd rail!"

Sasha grinned and shot Peter a look that said 'I-told-you-so'. "I know. He looked a mess in the elevator when I found him!" The two laughed at the embarrassed look on Peter's face.

"So, do you have any chocolate for me, Angel? I recall ordering some last time you were here," Aunt May said. Ever since Sasha had first come home with Peter she'd been called 'Angel'. It seemed to be that the only time he looked decent was when he got home with her. "Say, I think I do! I'll go get it. Be right back!" Sasha dashed out nimbly.

After Sasha gathered the chocolate from her back seat, she was startled to find none other than Mary Jane Watson walking up the drive. "Mary Jane, hi! What are you up to?" Sasha asked.

MJ may have been one of Peter's best friends, but Sasha knew that they were totally crushing on each other. Neither would admit it though so she left well enough alone.

Mary Jane smiled at her the same way Peter did when he was excited about something. Even her outfit reflected her mood. "Hey, Sausage! I've got some good news that I wanted to share with Peter and Aunt May, but I suppose I could tell you, too," she teased, knowing Sasha despised the nickname. She grinned nervously and pulled her orange Care Bears t-shirt down over her jeans. "I'm absolutely ecstatic!" she exclaimed. Sasha gave her a mock-dirty look before leading the way inside.

''Peter, Aunt May, guess who decided to stop by for a visit?" Sasha said as she walked in, her hands full of chocolate. Peter looked up and smiled in a slow surprised way. "Hey, MJ! What's up?"

Mary Jane giggled. ''I got a part in a play! I finally did it!" The small group applauded her as she did a stage bow. "Alright, MJ!" Sasha laughed, dumping the chocolate in front of Aunt May. MJ grinned and bowed again. ''I'd like to thank my adoring public for their appreciation of my talent," she said in a snobby British accent.

The group partied for a while and munched on chips and other junk. When 1:45 PM rolled around Sasha's clock alarm went off and she excused herself to go to work. ''Good luck, MJ! You two better not get into any trouble while I'm gone! Bye, Aunt May," she called as she left.

As soon as Sasha was back on the main highway, she turned her music back up and drowned in the feeling of the base thrumming through her core. Every time she drove her car she felt so free that she could fly. Unfortunately, she was home only twenty minutes later, which was two hours before she had to be at work.

"Okay," she said to herself as she unlocked the door to her house. Living in suburbia had its perks, like a garage, but it was hell n' gone from the city. ''Put spider in the old geo-sphere tank, feed it ants from the ant farm, clean my room, get dressed for work," she listed out loud. "Damn, and I thought I had a busy schedule before."

Sasha quickly pulled the film tube out of her purse while running up the stairs to her room. She got the fish tank turned jungle habitat down from her closet, dodging other falling debris in the attempt. Then she carefully dropped the spider into the habitat. The thing seemed confused for a moment before cautiously crawling round the tank.

When Sasha finally lost track of the spider, she shrugged and began to clean her room. Twenty five minutes later Sasha's room was spotless. If a before and after picture had been taken, the 'before' picture would have been labeled a war zone.

_Now to find the ant farm,_ she thought. She walked over to her closet and began to search through the knickknacks on the various floating shelves attached to the inside.

In the past, she'd find the farm every once in a while hidden behind the trophy's and stuff in her closet and dump food in it. Seeing as it was never a main priority it was amazing the little critters were still alive at all.

A few seconds later, she found it on the far end of the top shelf. She pulled it down with little difficulty. Then she transferred a few of the occupants to the tank/habitat. "Say hello to my little friend," she snorted derisively. As soon as she finished with it, she returned the ant farm to the forgotten corner of her closet.

Sasha's fascination with the little arachnid was soon over-borne with boredom. She quickly went to retrieve one of her work uniforms from the closet so she could start getting ready.

After working at the "Anime Café" for more then a year and a half, Sasha had gathered quite a few cool anime outfits. Even though she was a gymnast, she didn't starve herself, so when she wore the clothes of busty anime characters she _looked_ the part. Then again, that's exactly what Mr. Tenou, the manager, was going for. It definitely added to the patronage.

When she first started working there she was handed two uniforms. One of them looked like a Sailor Jupiter uniform, except she was expected to come up with her own accessories. The other outfit was the one she decided to wear today. The outfit consisted of a beautiful black-laced, red corset over a black bell-sleeved skirt outfit with miniscule silver stars embroidered at the neck, around the cuffs, and edging the hem.

Since then she had gotten five more uniforms from different mangas. One was the black leather outfit ''dark" Chi wore in _Chobits_. Another was Zakuro's maid outfit from _Tokyo Mew Mew_. Then there was a red Chinese tang and black pants from _Ranma 1/2_. After that was Katana's outfit from _Mortal Kombat_. Finally there was Hikaru's early armor from _Magic Knight's Rayearth_.

Just as she was putting on her socks she heard the phone ring. Sasha glanced at her watch, "3:02 pm, must be Mom," she thought. Sure enough, when she answered the phone her mother's voice came out thin because of interference. "Did you finish your room?"

Sasha rolled her eyes. ''Yes, I'm getting ready to leave, but I'll be back around 10:30 or so." She heard a sigh. "I wish you wouldn't work such late hours." Sasha chuckled at her mother's wistful sounding voice. "I need the money remember? I'm saving up to pay off the car and get an apartment eventually," she reminded her.

Her weekly paycheck on average was around $300 because she worked six days a week for at least 6 hours a day. "You get at least $1,000 a month and you only pay me $200 for the car. What do you do with the rest?"

_Why is she getting all nosey now?_ she thought. "Mom, I thought you wanted me to be more independent? Anyways, I gotta go. I'll see you tonight, 'bye!" Her mom laughed at her obvious avoidance of the subject. "Fine, 'bye sweets."

Sasha put the phone back in its cradle and sighed. Little did her Mom know, she was slowly, but surely revamping her electronic devices so she could do more with them. For example, the incident her mother mentioned when she took the computer apart, she was really putting anti-tracking devices and other electronic concoctions of her own in it.

All of her upgrades and creations cost her about $2000 a year in parts that no one but she could understand the connections between enough to make decent use of them. The remaining money left from her paycheck went to clothes, food and entertainment. The amount she didn't use she put into her savings account. Still she had over $10,000 in her account mostly because she didn't use much of her money.

Oh, yeah. She also bought shares of Oscorp dirt cheap after Mr. Osborn's military something or other failed. In the last few months the stock had been steadily climbing. She was already preparing to sell what she had for a good profit.

According to the stockbroker she was working with, Harry Osborn was getting ready to pull another project out of his back pocket. After the last disaster, Sasha didn't want to be around if this one exploded in the scientists' faces.

While Sasha was on the phone, she didn't notice that the genetically enhanced spider had crawled out of the cage using the plants and was currently 1mm away from her ankle. Sasha, who seemed oblivious to everything but her thoughts, caught sight of the time.

"Eep! 3:30pm! Shoes, where'd I put my shoes?" she exclaimed as she scrambled away. As she quickly finished her ensemble she still didn't notice the spider, which had crawled under her bed.

On her way out, Sasha grabbed a package of Pop-tarts and her purse. "Never leave home without it," she thought smirking. Sasha locked the door behind her and strode over to her car.

When she sunk into the plush leather seats of her car, she relaxed, finally in an environment where she didn't have to think about the burden of her responsibilities. She started up the car, listening to the purr of the engine. "Time to go," she thought, shifting into reverse. She carefully guided her car out onto the roads. She pitied that the ride only lasted about five minutes.

The minute she walked into the Café Mr. Tenou hailed her. "Sasha! My goddess, my angel, help! We're getting swamped," cried the 25 year old man. If he'd been any other man, Sasha would have told him some rather unpleasant and anatomically impossible things for calling her Angel. As it was, this was the guy who used to baby sit her 'cause she lived across the street from him._ I might as well let it slide, seeing as I'm lucky that he offered me a job here when he came back from college,_ Sasha thought.

"What can I do for you, Také?" she asked, walking into the break room to set her stuff down. "Tina and Marie called in sick and I can't close 'till at least 11PM 'cause it's _'Karaoke Open Mic Nite'_ tonight. Please, stay, please?" he begged, shamelessly.

Sasha gave him a skeptical look. "If I do this for you, can I get over time and a new costume?" Také looked happily relieved. "Of course! I've already got a costume in the back that I was planning to give you. I found it at the cosplay convention I went to last week." Sasha sighed in defeat. "Alright, let's go." They both set to work on what promised to be a long night.

* * *

6 ½ hours later

"Willow tea and green tea, coming up!" Sasha said, smiling at the customers. The place was packed and with only herself and Také working tonight they were hard pressed to keep everyone satisfied. It was already 10:20 PM and business wasn't slaking at all. In 10 more minutes Také was going to close down the kitchen for the night. As it was the only thing keeping her going was the tons of money she was making in tips.

She carefully set her tray of dirty cups, saucers, and plates on the counter by the sink and picked up a new tray. It should have been another girl's tray, but no one but her had shown up. She brought out more cups and saucers, which she filled from two of the four pots on the stove. "If only Také would be considerate and close earlier!" she grumbled to herself.

After serving two more tables, Také announced the close of the kitchen due to understaffing. _That takes a load off my back,_ Sasha thought in relief. There was some mild complaining, but everyone had seen it was just the two of them working almost frantically.

It only took her a few minutes before she got board of sitting around 'cause nobody would give up their drinks. "Hey, Také, cover for me?" He saw the glint in Sasha's eye and conceded. It was called open mic night for a reason.

When the person on stage finished his song, Sasha took his place. She popped her Evanescence CD into the cheesy home karaoke machine and turned to track two, "Bring Me to Life". She winked at the crowded room. "This, ladies and gents, is one of my favorites. Maybe I'll sound as good as the original!" she grinned as there was some clapping and a few whistles. She was good enough to have a few fans here. The first haunting bars of the song floated through the air. Sasha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

_How can you see into my eyes,_

_Like open doors?_

_Leading you down into my core, _

_Where I've become so numb…_

As she sang she swayed her hips in time to the music, like a snake charmer, drawing in her audience. When the melody picked up, she fell deeper into the music moving along to it as the words poured sweetly from her mouth. To her, whenever she sang, it felt like the notes became a tangible thing, curling around her muscular body and shifting it like a puppet master.

Finally, the music came to its peak and Sasha sang with all of her heart and soul.

_Wake me up inside! Wake me up inside!_

_Call my name and save me from the dark._

_Bid my blood to run, before I come undone._

_Save me from the nothing I've become._

_Bring me to life!_

As she slowly let the last note linger and drift off, she was suddenly aware of intense clapping from all around. More particularly, she noticed a flash of red and blue outside the window. She shook off the vision and smiled at the patrons.

"Thank you, thank you! Now if someone else would like to take the mic, I'd be happy to relinquish the stage… Anyone? No? Okay then hows about another one?" she asked, enthusiastically playing up her spot as the center of attention. The fifty plus customers agreed whole heartedly with more clapping (from the dignified and female patrons) and catcalling (from the teenage boys).

Sasha continued on until five minutes before closing when she forced Také up onto the stage to sing "Closing Time" which sounded amazing with his husky, slightly accented voice. Just as he started to sing, she went around to all of the tables with a spare tray to pick up the remains of the dishes.

After she collected what was left of the dishware, Sasha went to the kitchen, where she began to gather up all of the cups and utensils in the sink to carry them to the dishwasher. She didn't notice the shadowy figure sneak in through the back door to the alley. As soon as she finished rinsing the last few dishes, she turned to put them away only to run into something firm and warm.

Sasha looked up to find herself staring into the reflective plates of Spiderman's eyepieces. "Holy shit." Spiderman cocked his head. "Tch, such bad language is unbecoming," he said, something slightly amused.

"Which is why I only use it when I'm startled, **mother**," she retorted, trying to get her heartbeat to slow back down. She quickly began to put the dishes away. "Not that getting a visit from "The Amazing Spiderman" isn't cool, but can I help you with anything?" she asked as she worked.

"A mutual friend of ours told me about how inquisitive about me you were. I was curious as to why," he replied, leaning against the wall casually.

Sasha thought about that for a second. "Peter rat me out because he was worried, right?" Spiderman nodded. "Yup. He said, and I quote, "I don't want her to get in over her head"," he agreed.

She continued to put dishes away to conceal her sudden sad expression as she remembered the last person worried about her. "That's not an issue," she said quietly. "I can take care of-," she turned around only to find him casually sitting in a web-sling hammock. The sight was so odd that she couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "You look ridiculous!"

At that moment they both heard clapping from the main room. Sasha blanched. "Quick, go out into the alley! If you still want to talk I'll be out when my shift is over," she said hurriedly. Spiderman quickly complied, removing his webbing from the wall and dashing out. Sasha pushed the door closed because the spring was slow.

No sooner had she closed it and dashed over to the counter to start the dishwasher than Také opened the door, flushed with success. "We did it, it's over! Come on, let's herd this crowd of cats out of here so we can go home!" he exclaimed.

Sasha laughed at his attitude, "All right, but then I'm taking out the garbage and going home," she agreed. They both firmly, albeit, politely told the customers it was time to go. Ten minutes later Také finally told her she could go after they rang up the last two left of the clientele.

In the backroom she quickly grabbed her purse and the bag containing her new outfit. Without further delay she left through the back door with the garbage in tow to meet her previous engagement.

Just when she was about to put down her stuff to heave the garbage bag into the bin, she was divested of her burden. "Need a hand?" asked Spiderman, holding up the bag with one hand as he opened the bin with the other. "Thanks," Sasha said, shouldering her bag once more.

"So, what did you mean by taking care of yourself? You sound like you're trying to protect him instead of the other way around," Spidey observed as he turned back to face her.

"I guess I understand why you're curious, but you shouldn't stick your nose in my business. The only reason the people I've known and cared about for the past few years are alive is because of what they don't know about me," Sasha informed him. She then turned to head for her car. Spidey, not seeming to get the hint, followed.

"And what makes you think that?" he queried, now seriously concerned about this talk of life and death. As they reached her car, which was parked behind the Café, she turned and studied him with her piercing grey eyes. "If you think you can handle any shit that comes your way, I suppose I can tell you. On the other hand, I have to be home in a few minutes. I'm tired, hungry, and about to be late. Do you really want to talk about this or is this just a favor Pete called in?"

Spiderman looked taken aback by the accusation, then he nodded. "I was doing this as a favor, but you have my attention. If you don't want to talk about this now, we can set something up for tomorrow night."

Sasha's gaze softened in pity, tinged with a little guilt. "If you don't need to be anywhere we can talk over pizza at my house for twenty minutes or so. I can drive you, we'd just have to be careful of my mom," she offered. He thought for a moment before nodding his assent. "Pizza sounds great."

Sasha plopped into her seat and unlocked the other door. As Spiderman slid in, Sasha saw him glance at her custom seat covers, which were black with silver web patterns. "Nice," he said, gesturing to them.

"Peter thinks so, too. I got them from a custom shop downtown a few days after the Green Goblin scare," Sasha smiled, starting up the car. They both settled back into the plush interior, seat belts secure.

"So, just out of curiosity, how much did this car cost all together?" Spidey asked as they pulled out of the parking lot. "I also noticed that your stereo system was made for competition style speakers. That must have cost a bundle."

"Not really. I have a friend who imports them from Japan for cheap. He gave me a 75 discount because I lent him some money to get started," Sasha explained, her concentration mostly on the road. "As for the car, I got it lightly used. The owner offered me a good deal on it as well as a payment plan, so all together my car and the goodies that go with it cost about as much as a new one from the dealer would."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the cars' occupants. Sasha couldn't help but think, _Great. I've got Spiderman in my car **and** I'm going to tell him about my father. This is just peachy._ A few moments later, they pulled into Sasha's driveway where she used her remote to open the garage door. She quickly eased into the garage, closing it behind her.

* * *

Alright, I know this seems like an odd place to end the first chapter, but it's the first real brake there is in the next 2000 words or so. In light of this fact you'll just have to forgive me. 

So I really need to know if I should continue this story. I only have another 2 or 3 chapters before I run out of my pre-written stuff, so _**I need positive(or negative) feedback** _or else I'll kill the story when it's gone.

Thanx for reading and be sure to review!

Tenshi no Mugen


	2. In Which Things Get a Bit Stranger

Spiderman 1.5 (In Which Things Get a Bit Stranger)

Warnings: I hint at bisexuality, and there's a moaning alarm clock added to the mild cursing and visions of blood. Nothing too serious, most of it is just for filler or effect (or both).

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_1st person: Sasha's POV_

So there I was, stuck in my sleek sports car, (which had never seemed so small to me until now) driving the unofficial hero of New York back to my place, where I would then proceed to tell him the one thing that scared me most. I always knew that my well hidden family ties would eventually cease being so very well hidden, but it never occurred to me just how nervous it made me.

Somehow, I managed not to look like the complete idiot I felt like. As soon as the garage doors slide shut behind my bumper, I knew I had to keep this as monotone as possible. If I continued on in the emotion laden vein I was in right now I would surely make a fool of out of myself, more than I already had. For a moment, I felt like a cheap hooker, asking a man I barely knew back to my place, even if he was nicely muscular and chivalrous. At which point I mentally slapped myself, reminding my idiotic self that I just needed to stay calm.

It is too damn bad that crap only works in the movies… Man, if only I had known then what I know now. It's stuff like this that makes me wanna scrub out my brain. I hate the curse of 20/20 hindsight.

* * *

_3rd person POV_: _Flashback_

Sasha and Spiderman got out of the car and closed their doors at the same time. Sasha headed for the door, motioning for him to follow her. "When we get inside I'll see if Mom is awake. If she's up, I'll distract her so you can get upstairs. My room is on the right and if you're not sure it's the one painted blue, lots of computer parts all over the place," she whispered, smiling a little.

Spiderman crossed his arms over his chest in amusement. "Heh, alright, I'll follow you in. If she _is_ there, **don't** look up," Spiderman cautioned. "That would end up being an interesting explanation."

"Mom? I'm home!" Sasha called as she opened the door from the garage to the kitchen. She motioned for Spidey to come in after a few moments of silence. Sasha was surprised by how light on his feet he was.

She walked over to the counter of the island where she found a note that said, "Sasha, went to bed early. JJ wants me in at 6am tom. Pizza's in the oven. –Mom"

Sasha smiled. That was her mother for you. "Mom's asleep, but she kept her promise of pizza," she whispered, her voice tinted with amusement. She pulled the pizza out of the mildly warm oven and put it on two plates for the unofficial hero of New York and herself before turning the oven off.

The two pizza toting, costumed youths snuck upstairs to Sasha's room to eat pizza in piece, uh, peace…heh! Sasha pointed out the squeaky floor boards in the hallway to avoid the unneeded and unwanted noise.

The two walked into Sasha's room, which may have been clean in her opinion, but was still covered in spare parts for various things she was building. Sasha set her plate down on her nightstand and sat down heavily onto her bed. She watched Spiderman sit in her plush office chair and set aside his pizza to randomly pick up and scrutinize the spare electronics on her desk.

"Just as a wild guess, I'd say you're scientifically inclined," she chuckled as he jerked his head up like child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He chuckled a bit embarrassedly, trading the piece of a motherboard for his piece of pizza. "I guess you could say that," he admitted as he rolled up the bottom part of his mask to take a bite.

For a few minutes the two ate pizza in relative peace. When Spiderman shoved the last bite of his pepperoni pizza slice into his mouth, he immediately pulled the lower half of his mask back down over the lower part of his face. Sasha scrunched her nose up as she concentrated on how familiar his face, well, lower face was to her.

"So, back to business," he said. "What exactly are you trying to protect everybody from? And why won't you tell anyone, with the exception of me?" he asked, his muffled voice sounding insistent.

Sasha paused in mid-bite to look up at Spiderman, then swallowed to clear her mouth. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't let anyone in on this. The only reason I'm telling you is 'cause you can handle yourself if they find out and come for you. Do we have a deal?" Spidey gave her a nod. "Deal."

Sasha put down her pizza and stood up, striking a pose. "You are speaking to the illustrious Sasha Elaine Fisk. I am the only daughter of Wilson Fisk, the mobster who practically runs Hells' Kitchen." Sasha then sighed and sat back down. "My mother and I have been on the run from my father for as long as I remember. He's had people following us from the time we lived in California, where I was born, to Chicago, where we lived for almost three years before coming here.

"Last time I told someone who I was, he ended up dead just for knowing my connection to Fisk. Apparently my _darling_ Daddy likes to keep his biological offspring under his thumb as well as under wraps. So Mom and I decided to get fake identities and backgrounds so we could effectively disappear from his radar. You are the only person I've ever told my real name to in over ten years," she concluded.

To say that Spiderman looked floored would have been the understatement of the age. Even through his mask it was visible that his jaw had dropped halfway through her lecture. "I…suppose I can see your need for secrecy, now," he said slowly. "Is there anything else that I should know? You've already been bumped up into my top ten "in danger people" list," he joked.

Sasha looked like she was debating something, or just thinking really hard, before she said, "Do you have a clinical depression list? I tend to blame myself when something goes wrong with people who know about **_him_**. Especially since it didn't go so well last time…" Sasha trailed off as she unconsciously began to rub the inside of her wrist.

Before Sasha could react, Spiderman grasped her wrist gently, but firmly and began to turn it up so he could see it. At first Sasha tried to pull her arm back so he couldn't see, but then she gave in to the inevitable.

This time Sasha was sure that, if this had been an anime, Spiderman would have face-planted so hard that it would have left a bruise. At which point he would have seemed to grow in height and size to tower over her in disappointment.

"Why would you do something like this to yourself!" he hissed, gesturing to 7 or 8 healed over scars starting an inch below her hand and running at least three inches long. "From what I've seen you are entirely too good a person to blame everything on yourself!" He seized her by the shoulders and turned her to face him completely. "Promise me you won't pull that stunt again. Peter would try to kill me **_and_** Fisk if anything were to happen to you," he informed her.

By this point Sasha's surprise had worn off and steadily turned to righteous anger tinged with fear. "Who are _you_ to tell me what I should and should not have done when I was younger? At least **my** big secret didn't include gallivanting around in full-body spandex, risking my neck every time there was some criminal at large! Do _your_ friends and family know what **you** do in your spare time?" She was breathing heavily by the end of her tirade, mostly because she knew Spiderman was right. If she did ever die, the first thing Peter would do would be to try and find the one responsible, directly or indirectly, for her death. If he were to try for Fisk, it would make any sacrifice on her part meaningless

Spiderman looked a little taken aback by her lengthy speech. Finally he pulled himself together long enough to reply, "So, you're saying that spandex… was a bad choice?" He looked over his costume, humorous confusion evident in his voice.

Sasha blinked. Then she smirked, which quickly turned into a derisive snort, which then morphed into much giggling. If he hadn't known her for as long as he had, Peter/Spiderman might have thought she was bipolar or some other psycho babbling bullshit. Be it as it were, he grinned beneath his mask as Sasha's fear and anger drained away. When Sasha finally got a hold of herself she apologized for snapping at him. "It only just occurred to me that Peter really is suicidal enough to do something like that."

Spiderman stood to go. "Don't worry about it. I understand what it's like to have a secret that can get people killed. I won't tell Peter about any of this," he promised as he walked over to the open window. "But you should." With those parting words he leapt out of the window and disappeared from view.

Sasha scowled at the place where he last stood. "Hah! Fat chance of that happening," she grumbled, standing up to stretch. "I am _soooo_ sleeping in tomorrow." According to her bad-luck-o-meter though, she was due for some cosmic load of shite to land directly on her head.

Ignoring the impending sense of doom emanating from the very walls of her room, she began riffling through her drawers in search of something that could be used as pajamas. Five minutes later her window was closed (and locked, just in case) and she was redressed in an overlarge navy blue guy shirt and black Sophie's.

At that moment, whoever was running the cosmos decided she had suffered enough from the suspense department and sent a load of shite her way in the form of an escaped genetically enhanced super-spider. The spider's self-preservation instinct was warring with its hunger as it slowly crept toward one of Sasha's tan feet resting on the floor by her bed as she tied her hair back for the night. Just as she was finishing, she felt a sharp sudden pain near her left ankle. "Ow!"

Sasha quickly pulled her foot up to examine it, completely missing the spider crawling away under her bed. There on the fleshy part of her foot were two dots of blood on a slightly raised red bump. "Damn, that hurt," she said, wiping off the blood before pushing all thoughts of it away and dropping onto her pillow. It didn't even take her ten minutes to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Dream Sequence

Sasha could barely see her hands in front of her, let alone anything else in the dense multi-colored fog she found herself in. Not a moment ago she could have sworn she was back in her old apartment, but now… What was that beneath her feet? Dread began to fill her as she reached down to touch the sticky wetness that she was standing in. As she brought her fingers to eye-level, she choked on a sob. Blood.

Sasha stood too quickly, stumbling in her haste to get away from the puddle. She suddenly knew where she was, _when_ she was. This was indeed the old apartment and the blood was **his**, Jake's. She never had the chance to see him before she and her mother fled Chicago, before he died at the hands of Wilson Fisk's thugs when they discovered them gone. The police never found Jake's body, but the amount of blood told the entire story. Four liters. There's not an investigator alive that won't declare you dead if they find four liters of blood.

Sasha's tears fell thickly onto the red stains marring her skin. As she watched, they disappeared, quickly fading away as if they had never been. Suddenly, her ears pricked up as she heard a beat in the distance. A guitar that gave way to strong words, words she could feel in her very being:

_Never again will I be dishonored  
And never again will I be reminded  
Of living within the world of the jaded  
They kill inspiration  
It's my obligation  
To never again, allow this to happen  
Where do I begin?  
The choices are endless  
Denying the sin  
My art, my redemption  
I carry the torch of my fathers before me_

The sound began to grow louder as she walked toward the music, hoping for some human contact to settle the loneliness in the pit of her stomach. As she got closer she began to lose the fear and despair she felt at her discovery of Jake's blood._  
_

_I'm no slave  
Are you feeling brave?  
Or have you gone out of your mind?  
No more games  
It won't feel the same  
If I hold my anger inside  
There's no meaning  
My soul is bleeding  
I've had enough of your kind  
One suggestion, use your discretion  
Before you label me blind_

She closed her eyes and began to sing the final verse along with the mysterious music. Before she could get more than a few words out, Sasha then felt a strange sense of vertigo, which prompted her to pop open her eyes. _  
_

_The thing I treasure most in life cannot be taken away  
There will never be a reason why I will surrender to your advice  
To change myself, I'd rather die  
Though they will not understand  
I won't make the greatest sacrifice  
You can't predict where the outcome lies  
You'll never take me alive  
I'm alive  
_

As the last of the song was sung, Sasha reacquainted herself with her surroundings. She was now in her car, driving through the dense purple and black fog. Just as she was about to switch out the CD to see what it was a hand reached from the back seat and stopped her, giving her a heart-attack in the process.

"Don't worry about it, Sausage, what's to come will come, though only when we're ready," demurred Mary Jane's soft voice. Sasha turned away from the landscape to see that both Peter and Mary Jane were sitting in her car with her, Peter in the front, humming along to the next song.

Just as Sasha began to ponder her words, Peter took the opportunity to confuse her more. "Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Don't make my mistakes, or you'll lose as much as I did."

Sasha's vision clouded over once more, leaving her to stand alone in the fog. The music once again faded away, totally blinding her senses. She began to wander aimlessly, unaware of the shadows closing in around her. Before she went five feet, thin strands, which were near to invisible, stuck to her skin preventing her from moving forward. They seemed to have the effect of fishing wire, cutting into her vulnerable skin.

As she struggled with the agonizing bonds a voice spoke through the darkness. "Don't let your memories hold you back, painful though they are. You have both everything to lose and everything to gain. Don't forget, little Arachne. Don't forget…"

End Sequence

* * *

"Wha…huh?" Sasha mumbled as someone shook her awake. "The world better be ending…" she continued blearily after she saw the clock. At 5:20 a.m., that would be the only forgivable repentance for one doing the waking.

"Funny, but no," chuckled her mother's voice. _Oh, she better have a decent excuse. I'm perfectly willing to ruin dinner for a week for payback,_ Sasha thought. "You have a message from last night at 11:45-ish. Také wants you in for the 9 a.m. shift this morning. He said Maria broke her ankle and can't work for a month," she was informed.

Sasha nodded, her mood lifting morbidly at the news, though her eyes still were not open. "How tragic for the silly bint," she muttered under her breath, feeling no pity.

Maria was a patron of the same gymnastics school that she was and thought she outclassed everyone there. As a result she often treated everyone else with distain. Maria even had the gall to point out every imagined flaw in Sasha's routines, when she knew damn well that she had years more training to go to even touch Sasha.

"I suppose I can fill in for her. Did he say anything about a raise?" she asked, yawning. Her languid stretch was interrupted by a ticklish poke to the ribs. Her mother chuckled at her reticence. "Of course not. I'll talk to you tonight, sweets." Sasha waved, then set her alarm before falling asleep once more.

* * *

1 ½ hours later

Sasha slowly woke up to the sound of her _'soon to be road kill'_ alarm. In the middle of a noise that was reminiscent of a yawn mated with a heavy sighing grumble, she groggily whacked at the new **annoying** alarm clock that an ex-boyfriend had gotten her as a joke from Spencer's. The alarm noise was that of a woman moaning in ecstasy.

_Joke my ass! He's just mad I left him for a girl,_ Sasha thought, broodingly. As her hand finally came in contact, she mentally congratulated her self as she heard at fly. Her victory was short lived, however, as the blasted thing continued to make obscene noises. Sasha admitted defeat, stumbling half blindly out of bed to turn it off.

On her way to the bathroom, she wiped sleepily at her eyes to get rid of whatever was causing her blurry vision. Unfortunately, she wasn't particularly aware of where she was going. **_Thump_** "_OW_, shit-monkeys!" she exclaimed after slamming her toe into the door frame. "I guess this means I should change out my contacts," she muttered, the dull pain not helping her lethargic attitude.

Sasha carefully removed both of her neg. 3.00 prescription contacts and tossed them in the garbage, as they had expired the night before. She then started up the shower so she could get rid of the layer of sweat gathered on her skin from the disturbing dreams she had. She knew that she was missing pieces of it, but she could definitely remember some of the more eerie parts.

Sasha could distinctly remember the feel of blood on her hands, thick and terrifying, but could not remember who's blood it was. She also had this strange feeling that something was holding her back. The rest of it was a haze, obscured by a tune that she couldn't place.

Sasha tried not to think about it as she slipped out of her night clothes and into the shower. Warm showers always had a calming effect on her, so she took advantage of the hour of preparation time she had. Sasha absolutely reveled in the feeling of the water soaking her hair, running down the hip-length chestnut locks like a waterfall.

After almost twenty minutes of wasting time, Sasha swiftly washed her hair and body. Thankfully she had waxed a few days ago, so she didn't need to spend too much unnecessary time in the bathroom. She hastily wrapped a light blue robe around herself as she towel-dried her hair, which she then braided to keep out of her way.

Just as she was about to grab another pair of contacts from the medicine cabinet she a glimpse of herself in the slightly foggy mirrored front panel. "Ho-ly SHIT!" she exclaimed, dragging out the syllables in surprise. She back-peddled away from the mirror staring at her eyes. Instead of their normal grayish-blue color, they were know an extremely light blue color. Even as she watch, they were changing to a scary blue-black color, which only served to freak her out more.

Now nearing hyperventilation, Sasha quickly began examining the rest of her body to see if anything else had changed with out her knowledge. Fortunately, the rest of her body still looked the same as ever. Whipcord muscles, cultivated from vigorous gymnastics training, partially hidden by her feminine curves, and crisscrossed with various scars from healed scrapes and cuts, both accidental and self-inflicted.

Relieved for the moment, she looked at her arms one last time just to be sure. Other than a scar on each wrist looking like they had split open a little, everything seemed to be normal. The split scars weren't painful, or even all that obvious.

"Okay, Sasha. Get your act together. You've still got to go to work. Deal with this..." she paused in mid-rant as she once again caught sight of her eyes. They had changed once more, only this time to a more normal blue color. "...later?"

Sasha quickly left the bathroom and headed into her room, studiously ignoring her reflection in all of the mirrors she passed. She then rummaged through her closet, looking for a costume to wear. Taking into account her gymnastics practice later, she decided on her Chinese outfit.

As she slipped into the baggy, black, ankle-tie pants, and the roomy red tang, Sasha remembered the first time she wore the costume. She had been rushed out of the house by her mother, who was acting as a chauffeur, before she could grab her gym bag. She was forced to wear the outfit for practice. As it turned out, the costume was more comfortable than and just as flexible as her leotards.

As soon as Sasha was finished dressing, she practically flew down the stairs to get some breakfast. _Corn Pops, yum!_ Sasha thought, caustically. Seconds after she started to dig in to her gratuitous morning sugar rush in a bowl, the phone began to ring. _Figures, _Sasha grumbled to herself. _Whoever it is can leave a message._

After what seemed like forever, the answering machine picked up the call. Although she was still engrossed in her sugary slop, Sasha listened carefully to see if it was anyone she should absolutely pick up for.

**Beeeep!** _"Hey, Sash', it's Peter. I know you're probably really mad at me right now for sending Sp- **my friend** to talk to you last night, but I thought you should know he wouldn't tell me anything. He kept saying that everyone has their secrets and I should just wait for you to tell me on your own. To be honest, it's scarring me, Sasha. I'm worried 'bout you! Please, **please** call me today."_ **Beeeep!**

About halfway through the message Sasha stopped her idle munching and listened intently to the sound of Peter's concerned voice. She cringed a bit when he said she was scarring him. Guilt flooded her system as she listened to the semi-desperate tone at the end. Resolving to call him back after work, she put her dishes in the sink to be dealt with when she got home.

_Alright, its 8:40 and I'm just now putting my shoes on…I've got plenty of time! _Sasha giggled to herself. She speedily grabbed her gym bag from the laundry room and stuffed one of least damp leotards hanging to dry in after making sure her other stuff was still in it. She practically sprinted out of the door after snatching her keys from the counter and slamming the garage door button.

Five minutes later, Sasha pulled into a parking spot behind the Café. She turned of the car, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. _What if someone notices my eyes altering colors in the middle of my shift? This could seriously screw me over,_ she thought, pulling down her visor to check her eyes in the mirror. Thankfully they only seemed a little off their normal color.

Vowing to put it out of her mind, Sasha locked her car and walked in through the back door. No sooner had she hung her purse and blazer on one of the hooks, than she heard an excited voice behind her exclaim, "Sasha-honey!" after which she was glomped from behind. "Ack! Trina, I need air to survive!" Sasha wheezed.

Her attacker mock-whined, but relinquished her grip as requested. Sasha messaged her ribs tenderly, though she turned to give her assailant a charming smile. "Hey there, kitten, how's it goin'?"

Standing in front of her in full Ukyou regalia, was a 5'7" brunette beauty practically beaming at her. The skin-tight black pants and deep blue wraparound shirt do wonders for her body. A bandolier of mini spatulas runs from her right shoulder to her left hip. "How, do I look? I found it on E-bay for 45 bucks!" Katrina bubbled, twirling so Sasha could see it from all angles.

Sasha laughed in surprise. "Wow, that's amazing, kitten! We're a matched pair," she grinned. As she tied on a black apron emblazoned with the Anime Café logo, she looked over the schedule to see what she was supposed to be doing for the day. Oddly enough, she wasn't even on the schedule. "Um, did Mr. Tenou say anything to you about my shift today?"

Trina paused in her fumbling for another tea cup to think for a second. "Hmm, oh yes! He mentioned that you were only gonna be working until noon today 'cause you did _seven_ _hours_ by yourself. Man, I can't believe I wasn't here for Open Mic Nite!" she pouted, then continued preparing tea sulkily.

Sasha smirked at the girl's sulking temper. "Yeah, Trina, **sure** you are! You're only mad because you passed up your chance to sing a duet with me," she scoffed. Trina was usually there for every Open Mic Nite she could possibly get away from her family for. She came from a long line of actors, desperately wanting to sing rock/pop songs.

Before Trina could get in a funk, Sasha gave her a one armed hug, flashing her a cheesy grin. She then pulled the tray from her hands and dashed out the swinging door to the restaurant, chuckling at Trina's muffled yell of annoyance.

Sasha nimbly wove her way through the myriad of tables to the front of the restaurant where Mr. Tenou was taking care of the register. "Hey, oyaji! You coulda told me last night before I left that you needed me today," she teased, playfully sauntering up to the counter.

Také removed his glasses and looked up from his calculations to greet her with an amused scowl. "I am _not_ an old man! I'm only twenty-five," he protested, pointing his glasses at her in a condescending way. Sasha gave him a look that clearly said _'Are you kidding? Look at what you're doing!'_ as she crossed her arms. Také paused and looked at his position. "Alright, so I'm not exactly a teenager anymore, give me a break!"

Sasha shook her head and gave him a pitying look. "Don't worry; we'll get you laid someday, Tenou-san." At her deadpan statement he began to splutter and blush a deep red. Sasha giggled at his reticence as she got a receipt pad and pen from behind the counter. "So what section am I working in today?" Také glared at her for a second before pointing towards the upper tier. "You've got the two-seaters till noon today, now scram! Before I change my mind."

Sasha chuckled, tucking her receipt pad in the apron pocket and the pen behind her ear. Before she got to far from the counter Také called out, "By the way, I like your new contacts!" Sasha replied "Thanks!" before the compliment even registered. Then it dawned on her. _I can play my eyes off as a new brand of contacts! No one but Mom will be able to tell the difference,_ she thought excitedly.

The hours rolled by as she took the orders of various customers, ranging from long time patrons to a few interested new comers. Just as the lunch crowd started to shift in, she noticed that she only had another five minutes until her shift ended. Just as she was gathering her tip from her last table, Sasha heard a familiar voice coming from the entry way. She quickly wiped down the table before heading to the cashier's counter.

As Sasha descended the steps to the main tier, she was able to put a face to the voice, Peter. He was talking to Také in a fashion that could almost be called surreptitious. She watched them shake hands, her temper beginning to flare up a little before she brought it back under her tenuous control. It would be just like Také Tenou to go behind her back like this. He was worse than her mom when it came to prying into things.

Také looked up and saw Sasha, surprise and guilt written all over his non-existent poker face. Peter Parker turned around slowly, coming face to face with an extremely dispassionate looking Sasha. Fortunately for him, he knew better than to hope she hadn't seen him. "Uh, hi, Sasha," he said nervously.

Sasha smiled sweetly at Také. "If you would be so kind as to clock me out, I would be more than happy to take care of Peter for you, oyaji," she offered. Peter saw Mr. Tenou cringe almost imperceptibly. "S-sure, no problem, Miss Morieta," he practically stuttered. He knew his house was as good as egged and TP'ed by the end of the night.

* * *

Ya know, I just realized I never put up a disclaimer… oops? My bad!

Spiderman and Wilson Fisk as well as the version of events that happened in "Spiderman" and will happen "Spiderman 2", are not mine! I'm borrowing them for the pleasure of others (but mostly for myself!).

The songs in the previous chapter and this one are "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence and "I'm Alive" by Disturbed, respectively. I don't own these either! Well, except for on CD, but that's another matter entirely, right?

Anyways, a big, hearty thank you to my reviewers! I hope my psycho babble doesn't scare you off too badly… heeheehee, evil grin!

Thanks for reading and be sure to feed the flames, **review to your heart's content**!

_Tenshi no Mugen_

P.S. I'm passing the morphing eye color off as a trait that directly bitten females exhibit…. All right I just wanted to freak Sasha out! She's a little sarcastic, so I figure fate would want to flip her the bird every once in a while to remind her who's boss.

If you haven't figured it out, the darker the color of her eyes, the darker her emotions and the lighter, the more carefree and content. Her normal color represents neutrality or indifference. If you think it's too much I can take it out… maybe….


	3. Lessons on Life, Gymnastics, and Heroics

Spiderman 1

Spiderman 1.5 (Lessons on Life, Gymnastics, and Heroics)

Warnings: Mild cursing, lechery, the mafia

_1st person: Sasha's POV: Flashback_

As I led Peter to one of the two-seater booths on the third tier, I wondered what deity I had pissed off badly enough that he or she would curse me with such meddling men. I had at least two men trying to keep me from getting in trouble, as I'm wont to do. On the other hand, a mafia full of men was doing their damnedest to find me and put me in a constant state of danger. I could only hope this wouldn't become a habit.

Be that as it were, I was going to a have a serious talk with one Peter Parker. If he thought he could get away with making me feel guilty over something **he** did, then boy was he gonna be surprised. What I opted to keep to myself was for his safety, not for his personal use as a weapon of supreme remorse. When I think about it, I suppose what hurt the most was that Spiderman could have been right. Maybe I should have told him after we got so close. It's not like he couldn't keep a secret himself, right?

_3rd person POV_

Sasha picked a booth that was near the swinging doors to the kitchen, so she could leave as soon as she was finished giving Peter the dressing down of his life. She almost felt sorry for him as he looked up at her with eyes that screamed 'I'm a poor defenseless photographer, take pity on me!' in a cute puppy-dog kinda way.

"So," Peter started, "I'm on the shit list, aren't I?" Sasha didn't even bother do dignify that with a response. She watched him start to sweat. "I'll take that as a definite yes," he said guiltily.

Sasha gave him an evil glare that would peel the paint off of a brand new Porsche. In a voice that contradicted her mood she asked him evenly, "Are your assumptions always so accurate, or only when they involve me glaring at you?"

Sasha watched with an ice-cool gaze as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat before affirming his previous statement, "And to answer your question, yes. You happen to be in second place right now." Sasha untied her braid and began to run her fingers through it in a nervous habit she was sure she had gotten rid of.

Peter winced at her implication. He also recognized her nervous habit for what it was, a mixture of anger and remorse. _What on Earth does she have to be sorry about? It was my fault for pushing into her business… Even though it turns out that I had just cause. _His inattention caused him to flinch when Sasha spoke next.

"What in the HELL possessed you to go and tell a superhero, who (may I remind you) probably has more important things to do, that you thought I might be in trouble? At least, that's what it sounds like you did by the way he was so persistent about it," Sasha practically ranted. "How could you put me on the spot like that? You didn't even bother to give me a heads up! Granted I would have ripped you one then instead of now, but you wouldn't feel as guilty as I can tell you feel right now!"

After listening to her tirade, Peter somehow managed to regain his feet (which were firmly planted in his own somewhat plausible cover-speech). "Hey, I was worried about you! I decided to try and look out for my _little sister_ only to find her chewing my head off for doing so! The fact that said superhero wouldn't tell me anything worries me even more," he hissed back, though his own lecture seem slightly less effective as it wasn't as fueled by raw emotions as hers was.

"Though you _still_ haven't taken his advice and kept out of my business! I'm glad you care enough to meddle, but I already have enough people trying to run my life. I don't need you in the same predicament that Mom and I are in," Sasha replied. She stood from the table, ready to leave on that note. She could feel Peter practically wilting behind his pouty façade.

Sasha sighed incredulously. It was sad to see a grown man pout, but it was worse when he could pull it off. "I have gymnastics practice in half an hour. I'm not going to miss it just to argue myself in circles with you." Sasha paused, contemplating how harshly she was dealing with the guy who had all but saved her sanity. She sighed again, feeling she might regret not following Spiderman's advice, even if she **had** adamantly opposed it. "If you'd like I can talk to you afterward. Maybe if I explain some things to you, you'll understand how bad this can get."

Peter looked somewhat mollified at her admission. "Does this mean I get to watch you practice?" he asked, almost hopefully. The last time he had gone to one of her practices for some reason or another she had been doing 'Floor Wars' with the other gymnasts of her age and level group. The tumblers had to do certain combinations of flips, cartwheels, rolls, ect. flawlessly in competition for partners to practice with for the year.

That year there was an uneven number of students, so the one who did the best would be working with one of the instructors directly. The rest would be paired off based on their ratings. Second and third together, then fourth and fifth, so on and so forth. It was meant to ensure the partners would be on even footing and push each other forward.

There was only one problem with this theory. Partners wouldn't work well together if

they didn't like each other. Sasha was very unfortunate. She was just getting over a head cold that was messing with her balance and forgot that the assessment was that day. She only made a few mistakes in the routines, but it was enough to slip her rating down a notch or two. As a result she was paired with Maria, who wasn't even close to the level she was, for the entire year. The girl also had an ego the size of Alaska, which didn't help at all.

However, this year was different. This year Zania, the youngest high class coach in the area, offered to teach the best in the class competition. Sasha practically drooled at the chance to work with the great Zania Malikov. With that goal firmly in mind, Sasha fought tooth and nail to get ready for the event. The competition was so one sided it wasn't even funny. After she whipped the other competitors, Zane went up and shook her hand. She then offered her a chance at the state wide championship. Coming from her, this was good praise indeed.

However, to be honest, she preferred the uneven parallel bars and the balance beam to floor routines. After the Floor Wars she requested that Zane train her in her usual events instead of solely concentrating on floor routines. Zane offered to compromise, should Sasha agree to continue working on her form for floor routines Zane would make the uneven parallel bars and the balance beam the focal point of her teachings. Needless to say it was a win/win situation.

Sasha had to admit, she hadn't expected Zane to be the hard task master that she was. She insisted on perfection in every move that she made, no matter what the event. Over the past few weeks she must have done hundreds of rolls, handsprings, cartwheels, round-offs…basically you name she did it. In other words, it was very boring.

Sasha shook herself from her reverie to give Peter the look that told him when he was being weird. Peter chuckled sheepishly. "Alright, so I just wanna see a whole bunch of girls in leotards. Is that so bad?" he asked defensively.

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Boys! Are you telling me you don't have work or something more productive to do?" she asked him. He gave her a look that clearly expressed his thoughts about her sanity, or lack there of. Sasha shook her head in exasperation, then motioned for him to follow her into the back room.

"It seems that oyaji managed to call in another waitress, eh kitten?" Sasha asked Katrina as they cut through the kitchen. There was a rather lewd looking Tina, putting on an apron. "Sure you're over that cold, kid? I don't want to have to deal with a whole bunch of sick people when I get back to work on Monday."

Tina grinned at her as she readjusted her garters so they just showed at the hem of her extremely short skirt. "No worries! I'll not breathe on them unless they piss me off," she giggled, her Australian accent still showing through even after five years of living on the island. At 15 she was the youngest waitress working there, but she was also the most scandalously dressed. _Crazy Aussie_, Sasha thought affectionately.

"So, who's your friend?" Trina asked. Tina sauntered over to listen as well. "Yeah, he looks a little younger than your last boyfriend. He looks a little cuter to!" Tina exclaimed, obviously teasing the two.

It was obvious that Peter was blushing up a storm for reasons that were not entirely kosher. Sasha chuckled in good humor at her friend's bashful modesty. "This is Peter Parker. He works at the Bugle with Mom," she explained. Then her smile grew into a wicked grin. "And he happens to be single, girls!"

Watching Tina, Trina, and Peter's reactions was better than watching comedy on TV. The girls had an expression akin to man-eating lions at an all you can eat buffet. Peter on the other hand looked like he was the one strapped to the buffet table.

_I'm amazed he hasn't passed out from the way he's blushing. I at least expected him to burst a vessel because of the overload of blood in his face! _Sasha thought in amazement. Finally, one of the girls broke the lustful stares in favor of surprised recognition.

"Hey, wait a second. I recognize your name!" Tina broke in, astonishment evident on her face. "You're the guy who takes pictures for the Daily Bugle!" she announced. She held out her hand. "It's so cool to meet you Mr. Parker. I love your work."

Peter looked extremely surprised for a second then a little skeptical. "You mean you like the photos of Spiderman that I take," he corrected her. To his surprise, she shook her head. "I'm a photography student. I look at how well the picture is captured and developed. The subject of your work is merely a bonus to look at," she explained, her matter of fact tone seeming out of place with the rest of her outfit.

Peter grinned at her attitude toward his mode of living (on so many levels) and took her outstretched hand in a carefully firm grip. "It's a pleasure to meet someone of the same craft. Is there anything you specialize in?"

Sasha watched in amusement as the two photographers exchanged tidbits of information they had learned in their trade. While they were occupied, she gathered up the rest of her stuff, hugged Katrina on her way out of the kitchen, and hung her apron back up in the corner.

"So you want to take wildlife photos in the brush? That sounds amazing!" Peter proclaimed. "It's only amazing to see, 'cause to take those pictures I'd have to camp out in the outback for weeks at a time. It'd be worth it though!" Trina gushed, grabbing a tray. "Maybe I'll see you around here sometime?" she asked, her Australian lilt capturing her hopefulness.

At this Sasha giggled. "He's too old for you, kid. He's turning 21 in August," she clarified. Tina pouted at her. "Then why did you tease me with him being single? Honestly, and you call _me_ the crazy one!" She sashayed out of the door to the restaurant, tray in hand.

Peter blinked in confusion. "Um, what exactly did she mean by that? How old is she exactly?" Sasha motioned for him to lean over so she could whisper it. Then she skipped out the door to the alley laughing at Peter's frozen expression of disbelief.

As Sasha and Peter made there way out to her car, Sasha was still chuckling at Peter's bright red face. "Fifteen! Please tell me you're joking!?" he exclaimed, getting in the passenger side door. "Nope! That, my friend, is what we in the business call jailbait," Sasha snickered. Peter tried to disappear into the leather seats of Sasha's car as they drove away.

**1 hour later**

"Come on, Sasha, I know you can do better than that! Your aerial cartwheel into the back handsprings was sloppier than I've seen it in months!" Zania Malikov scolded as Sasha finished one of her practice routines.

Sasha's already flushed cheeks gained even redder tinting at Zane's scolding. She self-consciously wiped at the sweat dripping down her cheek with the back of her hand as she turned to her coach. "Sorry, Zane, my mind's not on the floor routines right now. I have a chore to do after this that's gonna be worse than pulling teeth."

Zane shook her head, a knowing look on her face. "Is this about that guy you got sitting in the lobby watching you through the mirrored glass? Truly, though, he doesn't look to be anywhere near your type…," she self-debated, rubbing her chin in a mock-thoughtful manor.

Sasha barked out a laugh that clearly gave her opinion on that matter. "I'm not interested in him _that _way, trust me. I think of him more as an older brother, than anything else," she assured her skeptical coach. "Which I suppose is half the problem. He's being too nosy, so I finally agreed to tell him what he wants," she paused for a moment, stretching to keep her muscles loose.

Zania looked at her, her façade appearing quite normal, while Sasha could tell she was seriously worried. "How exactly are you going to approach something as dangerous as having connections to the Underground, even if it is only through the club scene?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Zania had family in the Underground, the criminal element of the city. A few of her cousins were in close with Fisk's people, so she also traveled the club scene, which is where Sasha had met the true Zania Malikov, alias Zane the Blade. While Sasha made it a point to never tell anyone about her familial troubles, she couldn't help but wonder what drew her father to illegal activities. So a few months ago she started frequenting the Underground clubs, despite the obvious dangers. It gave her the opportunity to spy on Fisk's people without actually appearing to.

Sasha had found out about Zane in one of those 'only-seen-on-hip-hop-soap-opera' type dramas. One weekend they somehow ended up at the same Underground nightclub. That particular night Sasha had been looking for a good time in the midst of a more casual crowd she could intimidate into leaving her alone if she had to. Zania on the other hand had been part of her cousins' entourage, who had some private business to work out. Bored, she decided slipped away for a quick dance.

In the midst of the throng crowding the dance floor the two had quite literally bumped into each other. They had been sharing info from the Underground ever since. Sasha actually held a decent standing in Zania's family after they discovered she had intimidated and bribed her way into the Underground. It helped Sasha's sanity to have a mentor who knew the score; the world was dangerous, so be just as dangerous.

Sasha tuned back into the present and replied, "Peter can handle it. I trust him more than anyone else who's on the outside." Admitting that felt good. It was like freeing up a piece of her mind.

"Alrighty then, good luck with that," Zania pulled away from their huddled conversation and continued on with the lesson. "Do the floor routine one more time, but with _feeling_," she ordered, "Then you can move on to the uneven parallel bars."

Sasha whined in a very put upon way, but did as she was told, getting back into position to start the routine over again. Just as she was about to start she noticed she was getting a tunnel vision of sorts. She concentrated on calming her mind to the point where she was empty of all feelings. Unnoticed to those around her, Sasha's eyes had slowly bled free of color until they were a silvery-blue hue. She cast her body into the string of movements.

To the casual observer the girl at the center of the cushioned floor mat was a blur of beautiful and fluid motion dressed in a grey and blue leotard. To the trained eye she was in perfect form for all of the moves. Flips, tucks, rolls, and cartwheels were performed with a precision that was almost frightening. Finally she rounded off her last cartwheel and stuck it to the mat, posing.

Sasha's tunnel vision induced determination faded and she grinned in satisfaction, turning to Zane. "There! How was -- that?" she faltered as she caught sight of the gaping floor team and the fixed mask of acceptance on Zane's face. "What? Do I have something on my leotard?" she asked, running a quick check of her outfit.

Not finding anything, Sasha turned to Zania and asked, "So can we move on to the bars now, Zane?" Zania nodded, rubbing her temples. "Yeah, you're good on floor for today," she replied.

**After Practice: Girls' Locker Room**

Though Sasha would rather have dragged out the post-practice shower as long as she could, her sense of propriety insisted she finish quickly so Peter wouldn't be kept waiting too long. The odd thing was that she didn't feel nearly as wiped out as she usually did after one of her extreme practices. _Perhaps I'm just getting used to the work-load?_ Sasha thought to herself.

Afterward she quickly dried off and began to change back into her Chinese tang and pants, whilst coming up with an interesting list of things she wanted to do after she broke the shocking news to Peter.

_Let's see, I can hopefully keep Peter from reacting too badly to the news. Then after I drop him off at his aunt's place I can run by the bookstore and grab Atwater-Rhodes new book. Then, with any luck, I can __**finally**__ finish watching _Kill Bill Volume 2._ Not that I haven't already tried a billion times…_

By the end of her strange internal monologue, Sasha finished getting all of her stuff together. She quickly walked out of the locker room and headed for the mirrored glass lined lobby. Before she made it halfway to the door she was assaulted by entire the floor team. Every single one of them were attempting to butter her up, and she knew it the moment she heard the truckloads off praise (otherwise known as bullshit) being dumped in her direction.

"I already know what you want, Jennifer," Sasha cut in between all of the praises, speaking directly to the floor team's leader. "And I've already told you, the minute I join your team of anorexic looking twigs is the day I learn how to fly. I do **not** like doing floor. I only make allowances for Zania because she is my trainer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone waiting for me in the lobby."

More than half of the girls standing there huffed angrily at being called anorexic twigs and the other half didn't seem to particularly care, Jennifer being in the second grouping. They followed her through the lobby as she tugged Peter to his feet and bodily hauled him outside and to her car. Finally they flocked around her car as she made ready to leave. "Please, won't you reconsider? You've gotten even better since you first began training!"

Sasha exchanged a glance with Peter that conveyed her annoyance rather poisonously. Peter simply smirked in amusement. With that Sasha slipped her sunglasses on, revved her engine, and scoffed at the idea. "You are more full of shit than your eyes originally indicated. Go sucker some other poor sap into your cult, I'm out of here." And with that she left them in the dust as she pulled out.

**Back at the Morieta's**

When Sasha pulled into the garage of her house, she felt her butterflies return in full force to remind her that she was going to be dragging an innocent into her mess. This of course led her down darker memory paths involving her despair over Jake's death, making the butterflies into knots of many intricate designs. She sighed as she turned off the car.

"Generally, admitting this to anyone of authority could automatically get anyone involved arrested and eventually manipulated into the wrong hands. Lucky for you, I know you well enough to trust you with this, although now I'm really hoping I've scared you enough to change your mind," Sasha began looking hopefully at Peter. If anything, however, Peter's determination had only hardened from that.

Sasha refocused her eyes on the steering wheel in front of her, avoiding Peter's eyes. "Instead, I'm going to have to ask for something in return…" Sasha told him a little hoarsely. "…a condition you have to swear you'll keep, no matter what." Peter cocked his head, a little confused at her both sudden and apparent change in moods. "I always keep my promises as best as I can. What do you need me to do?"

Sasha turned back to Peter, slipping off her sunglasses to reveal her startling blue-black eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I need you to promise me you won't die," she whispered, her voice too choked with emotion to work properly.

As much as her altered eye color had surprised him, her request had metaphorically blindsided him like a runaway semi-truck. Looking back on his excursion the previous night as Spiderman, however, he realized it shouldn't have. "Of course I won't die. I promise," he said, wiping away the single tear that escaped her control.

As soon as he said that Sasha launched herself across the consol of her car and buried herself in his arms. Peter comforted her as she wept for her friends, her mother, and her fear. When she began to calm down a minute or so later, Peter realized he now had a wet spot on his shirt where she had been crying. "Man, Sasha, you're putting a big water spot on my shirt!" he chuckled softly.

Sasha let out a giggle between her sniffles as she wiped her eyes free from tears. "I'm really sorry, Pete. Not about the shirt, it's just that, well, things have been a little strange lately, _you_, mister, being part of that," she mock-blamed him. He held his hands up in a defensive position, an innocent look on his face.

At that moment Sasha and Peter's stomachs chose to protest their contents, mainly their lack of said contents. The two friends looked at each other with a look of surprised amusement, then began to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "Come on, let's go grab something to eat from the kitchen while I tell you a story."

Peter smirked and opened his door. "Sounds like a plan. You still have the roast beef ramen?" Sasha chuckled and nodded. "I always keep some stashed just for you, Bro." They walked into the house through the door to the garage, laughing like loons.

**An hour or two later**

"So," Peter began, making his best effort to look shell shocked, "You're telling me that you are related to Wilson Fisk, not just as a distant cousin or something, but as his daughter? And that said multi-millionaire is just as shady as all of the tabloids make him out to be!?"

"That's about the gist of it," Sasha agree, popping another Cheez-it in her mouth, "There are also some other minor details, but we'll get to those." She paused again to take a drink from her Sierra Mist bottle. "The only other major thing I haven't told you yet is the reason he started taking such an interest in me."

Peter waited for Sasha to finish the thought, but she seemed quite content to ignore him in favor of a bowl of ramen. "…And that reason is?" he prompted her not-so-subtly. "Da shame ting daa gah Jake kiwld," she mumbled around a mouth full of ramen. Peter cocked and eyebrow at her excellent use of the food language. "I don't understand "ramen-ese" as well as you speak it, Sis," he admitted.

Sasha nearly snorted noodles from her nose at that comment. She quickly cleared her mouth of any remaining food so she could answer him. "What a pity. I said 'the same thing that got Jake killed', thank you very much," she paused to let the info sink in. "I had to take an IQ test when I was younger for some reason or another, sometime back when we lived in Chicago.

"It turns out there was a mix up in tests and I accidentally got an adult test. When the results came back somewhere in the high 130's I was declared a genius. Hell, I didn't even know I could understand shit like that. Apparently I just picked up things from people more quickly than most. I'm actually the reason he can't find us."

This time Peter didn't have to act shell shocked. He genuinely could not find an intelligent word to say. Even unintelligent words escaped him. Sasha laughed at his bug-eyed and open-mouthed surprise. "Just to clear up some confusion, that was a lie," she informed him. He seemed to relax a little, then she continued. "I only seem to pick up Computer Sciences at the genius level. Everything else is just above average." Peter started to choke on the noodles he took a bite of.

"You have got to be kidding! I mean, I've seen some of your papers and there barely B-material, let alone genius material," he attempted to rationalize. Sasha scoffed at his effort. "That's merely a ruse to keep off suspicion. How hard do you think it is to track a genius through their talent? Why do you think I'm in band and art and gymnastics, not the Computer Club, or even the Mechanics Club?"

The two sat in a companionable silence as Peter mulled over all of the information he had been given. After a moment they both tried to resuscitate the conversation. Of course, it's hard to talk and listen at the same time.

"So, what about-"

"There's something-"

They paused again and laughed. Sasha gestured to Peter. "Please, age before beauty, I insist," she teased. Peter faked a hurt look, but continued. "So, why did your eyes change color? In the car they were a blue-black color in the car, now they're almost…purple," he informed her, sounding slightly mystified.

Sasha looked down at the floor in embarrassment, breaking his intense study of her eyes. "That's actually what I was going to talk to you about. Remember the other day I was telling you about my trip to see the electron microscope? Well, I found something while I was there. A blue and red colored spider was underneath a rolling table set up that some of my stuff rolled under. I, um, kinda brought it home with me."

Peter jerked back from the counter they were seated at so hard that he landed on his ass on the floor. "You did _what_? Why would you bring a genetically mutated spider back _home_ with you!?" He jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where is it?"

Sasha blinked at his extremely spastic attitude. "Um, it's upstairs, in the geo-sphere on my desk. Why do you think it's genetically mutated?" Peter didn't even bother to answer her, opting instead to dash upstairs in a rather crazed fashion. Angrily glowering at his rather rude exit, she wondered what got his knickers in a twist. Deciding not to wait to find out she followed him at a more sedate pace.

When she finally made it to her door, which was ajar, Peter came charging back out in a near panic. "It's not in there! Sasha, this is really important. Is there _any_ chance it might have bitten you at all?" he asked frantically.

Sasha blinked as she recalled the previous night right before she went to bed. Something had bitten her ankle. "Um, maybe. Something bit me on my ankle last night after Spiderman left for the night. It's still a little red," she affirmed, lifting up her pant leg enough to show him.

At this he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where were you?" he almost begged. Slightly shaken, Sasha pointed to the bed. She watched as he practically dove beneath the bed with a rolled up school newspaper which had been lying beside her bed. Moments later he re-emerged holding the paper with new zeal, displaying a splotch on the page like a trophy. "Whew! Now you'll cause no more trouble!" he sighed in relief.

Then he noticed that Sasha was staring at him as if he were a madman. "What?" he questioned, trying his best to look innocent. At her maintained look of disbelief, he sighed. "I guess I should explain a thing or two myself, shouldn't I?" he rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably.

Sasha crossed her arms and gave him the look. "If you feel it's important enough," she informed him coldly.

Peter winced at the obvious anger in her voice. _'Should I tell her that I'm Spiderman? Or should I try to keep up the false pretenses?'_ he thought to himself. "Sasha, I-"

A.N. - Exactly how much would you hate me if I stopped here?

A.N. cont. - Nah! I couldn't do that to you after this long a wait…. Or could I?

A.N. cont.+ - Count yourselves lucky.

_'No, I can't tell her yet. Just in case I'm wrong. It never hurts to be cautious right?'_ He assured himself, scratching the shell of his ear.

"-I'm sorry. I asked Spiderman last night about his powers once more. He told me that he got them from a spider. The same spider I just squished. He said he thought it was dead by now, but I guess not," Peter lied.

"So you're telling me that I may have powers now, too?" Sasha asked skeptically. She glanced down at herself the looked back at him. "You've got to be kidding." As Peter shook his head Sasha sat down heavily into her chair. "I've gotta talk to Spiderman. Is there any way you could get his attention by tonight?"

Peter practically sighed in relief, though he managed to keep it internal for Sasha's sake. "Yes, where do you want to meet him?"

There, are you happy? Sorry it took so long. My computer died at the part where they spoke at the same time so I put it off for the night. Then Fate came and said, "**No**! You lose!" So my computer complied by crapping out enough to have to be sent in, hence the wait.

Like I said, I'm _really_ sorry. It would have been up 4 months ago if not for that. I hope you like it though. And as always:

Read & Review!!


	4. LeftOvers in More Ways Than One

Spiderman 1.5 (Leftovers of the Food and Costume Variety)

Warnings: more than mild cursing

_1st person: Sasha's POV: Flashback_

I honestly think there must be a deity out there that has decided to curse me with men who want to take on more than they can handle. It must be the same one that cursed _me_ to be loaded down with the same shit. This is the only proof I can find that 'God' is male. Seriously, he's got to be the same guy that came up with the corset. He really **is** a bastard. (On a side note, this doesn't convince me that a male is running the whole show upstairs. Only a woman could truly appreciate creation while at the same time having infinite patience to deal with said creation.)

…Enough bitching about the divinities and back to the point. On top of trying to shoulder the world, Peter has just omitted something he was about to say to me. How do I know? He was scratching the shell of his ear through the second half of our conversation. That and I am not an idiot. I mean, come on; did he really expect me to believe that Spiderman would just give up his secrets like that to a member of the press? He was rather serious about killing the little bug, too. He also wasn't as surprised at my family connections as he was to my status as a genius. Exactly who is he that he knows all of…. **No way**. He _couldn't_ be, could he?

My Big Bro, _**Spiderman**_?

_3rd person POV_

For the entire ride to Peter's house, Sasha was tense, only opening her mouth to sing to the music. Peter seemed to pick up on it as he stayed even quieter than she did. Sasha did manage to calm down a little while driving, however. The tension almost flowed out of her body as she sped through traffic dodging and weaving through the cars as if they were slow moving snails to her sleek, lightening fast Spyder. Peter even noticed that she began to smile softly for the last five minutes of the ride.

She dropped Peter off with only a smile and a goodbye before she drove away. She knew she was confusing him with how serious she was, but hopefully he would just write it off as a case of the nerves. At least he explained why all of the weird stuff was happening to her today. The openings in her wrist, her lack of exhaustion after practice, even the color changing eyes were probably because of the bite. Sasha was curious as to how Peter kept his from changing with his emotions, if her theory was right. He certainly wasn't into the whole apathy thing that meditation taught.

All of that aside, the emotional shit Sasha was going through was beginning to mess with her state of mind. Normally she kept her more personal emotions tightly canned on a shelf in a dusty corner near the back of her mind. However, that was a whole lot easier when ones' life wasn't exploding before one's eyes. Re-living some of the most traumatic events of her life certainly didn't help her peace of mind. On the other hand, maybe a cup of coffee and a good book might do the trick. Her guest wasn't coming until sundown anyway.

**~Sunset~**

Sasha pulled into her driveway just as the sun began to set only to find that her mother's car was suspiciously missing. Sasha supposed that this was due to that asshole that called him self an editor. J. J. Jameson really **was** the worst boss that Jilliana Teresa Morieta had worked for since they moved to the Big Apple. Then again it would be easier to meet Spiderman, seeing as her mother _wasn't_ here. "Thank god for good ole Jameson," Sasha snorted wryly as she turned off her car.

Sasha swiftly exited her car and smacked the garage door button before heading through the door into the kitchen. Coffee and books may have been good for her mind, but her body was beginning to argue for attention. Rather loudly protesting, actually. In an effort to appease her poor stomach, Sasha began scouring the refrigerator for various leftovers, hopefully those _without_ a penicillin upgrade.

Within seconds Sasha had stacked almost as many Tupperware dishes on the counter as she was tall. She found chow mien, meatloaf, spaghetti, lasagna, two burritos, three tamales, an enchilada, half a cut of steak, and most of a bowl of flan, all of which was still mildly eatable. And this was just for starters if her interpretation of her stomach rumblings was right. She carefully cradled the final stack of food to her chest as she shut the fridge door.

Just as she turned to deliver the food safely to the counter, she once again bounced off of a rather firm chest. "Holy fuckin' shit!" Sasha shrieked, dropping her armload. Thankfully the food never hit the ground. Instead it was all caught by a pair of bright red gloves. Sasha glared up into the reflective eye plates of Spiderman's mask. "Dammit, you geek! Quit sneaking up on me! Is it some kind of fetish for you or something!?" she yelled, whacking him on the arm.

"Whoa! Calm down there, Sasha. You don't want me to drop all of this, too, do you?" He said chuckling at her flustered appearance. He carefully set said food down with the rest of her stacks on the counter behind him. "What are you doing with all of these anyway? Are you cleaning out the fridge or something?" he asked, sounding slightly bewildered. Sasha blushed, running a hand through her hair once. "Something like that, wanna help?"

Sasha, ever the mindful waitress, quickly halved the contents of the first few Tupperware onto two separate plates and stuck them in the microwave. However, just as she turned around her stomach decided to voice its displeasure and growled. Sasha blinked than poked at the offending organ. "Shut up, you, I'm cooking food right now! (1)" she muttered exasperatedly. She heard Spiderman quietly chuckle from his perch on the bar stools behind the counter. Sasha shot him a mock evil glare. "Laugh it up, fuzz-ball! (2)" she dared, barely keeping a straight face as she said it.

After Sasha removed the dishes from the microwave Spiderman finally addressed the issue he had come to talk to her about. "So our mutual friend says that there may be a new superhero in town… any idea what he meant by that?" Sasha paused in her search for a clean fork, though she kept her back turned to him. _Exactly how much should I tell him? If he __**is**__ Peter, then he'll probably ream my ass again because he's still angry about it. Should I provoke him to try and draw him out, or should I give it to him straight, no details… heh, let's test his nerves. I've been dying to get him back for sneaking up on me._

"My mother and I stopped at the Science Institute the other day, you know, the one with the electron microscopes? Well, I found a pretty red and blue spider underneath one of the computer screens, so I scooped it up into an empty film tube to take a look at it underneath one of my microscopes. Unfortunately, it escaped some time during the night and then was squished and trashed by our mutual friend earlier today before I could enter its pure DNA into my super-computer and make evil mutant clones," Sasha informed him airily.

Sasha finally found a fork and turned around to deliver it, only to discover that Spiderman was staring at her like she'd grown a second head. "Didn't you know? I'm your newest mortal enemy! Any minute now gangsters will come out of the woodwork and point so many guns at you that if you move they'll be shooting themselves," she said smugly. Spidey continued to stare at her. "But I figured since the spider DNA has been corrupted I should make sure this bug bite on my ankle won't have any ill effects."

"You did WHAT?!" Spiderman spluttered, promptly bringing his hand down in his spaghetti. Sasha struggled very carefully to keep her mind and features properly composed. If her eyes gave her away then the jig was up. "What on earth would possess you to pick up a genetically mutated spider? Do geniuses just not have common sense?"

Sasha cocked an eyebrow as Spiderman finally realized his hand was firmly planted in his plate of spaghetti. _Ah-hah! Got him,_ she thought, as he began to clean the spaghetti from his glove, _He didn't pay any attention to my crap about being a super villain. Plus he reamed me for being stupid enough to bring the spider home just like Peter did earlier. Either you and Peter have a lot in common or you __**are**__ Peter. I'm betting on the latter._ "I don't know, do they not?" Sasha asked, smirking. "Both you and Peter seem to be of the same opinion on the subject. Exactly how many of the same opinions do the two of you have?"

Sasha watched Spiderman squirm under her gaze at the suggestion. "N-no more than normal, really…" he demurred nervously. He cleared his throat and quickly picked up a different subject, "Besides, you said that you have a bite from it?" Sasha shrugged, "Maybe. I know I have **a** bug bite, I just don't know what did it." Spiderman let out an annoyed noise. "Damn, hold out your hands," he instructed. Sasha complied, offering her hands palm down. The hero grasped her wrists and flipped them over so he could see near her pulse point. There amidst the other healed over cuts were two small slits that didn't bleed.

Spiderman released her hands and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I guess there is only one way to test this. Put your middle two fingers down towards your palm, like I do," he said, demonstrating. A line of white webbing hit the empty soda can at Sasha's elbow. He then gave a sharp tug on the webbing in his hand, bringing the can to his outstretched hand. "Simple, right?" he asked, brandishing the tin can with web still attached.

Sasha gave the can in his hand a skeptical look, then switched the look over to rest on Spiderman. "Tell me you're kidding. I **know** you can't have gotten that right the first try," she said, thinking of Peter attempting to play one-on-one basketball with her. For the first half-hour Peter had been better at throwing the ball than catching it. He actually made her look like a good player, and she couldn't aim for shit.

Spidey crossed his arms again, giving the impression that he was looking down his nose at her. "And how do you know that?" Sasha cocked an eyebrow at him. "Everybody needs to practice their talents. I didn't just wake up one day and know how to do a triple back-flip with a handstand roll!" Spidey heavy sighed and put the can back down next to his own plate so Sasha could aim for it. "Fine smart-stuff, just aim for the can, would ya?"

Sasha chuckled at his exasperation, but did as she was told. However, thinking about having super powers and actually realizing that you have them two different things. With a quiet _**thwip**_, a rope of sticky white filament shot out of her wrist and latched on to the fork to the right of the can. Sasha froze when she felt a peculiar pulling sensation at her wrist. She followed the line of white thread from the fork to her wrist where it originated. "Whoa," she whispered. With an unsteady hand, Sasha grasped the line of webbing. The fork clattered over the edge of the counter.

Sasha glanced up to Spiderman's reflective eye plates with stormy blue-grey eyes that were rapidly shifting colors. "I don't think it hit me 'till just now," she said, her voice a little hoarse with emotion. Spidey nodded sympathetically. "I can imagine how you feel. I found out the hard way, by accident, that I had these powers. They sort of got me in trouble, more than once. You're lucky Peter told me about you, otherwise you would probably have found out the same way I did," he said, the tone of his voice giving her the impression that he was wincing.

"Well," Sasha began quietly, watching the superhero fold up his mask to expose his mouth. "You must be the only one who knows how I should feel, 'cause right now I'm stuck between fear and awe." Spiderman looked up from where he was just beginning to take a bite of the lasagna, having decided to bypass the spaghetti. "Why's that?" he asked casually, sticking the mess of meat, pasta, and ricotta cheese into his mouth. "What if my father finds out, finds my mom and I? He wouldn't be above using her to force me to do his dirty work," she mumbled, her voice trembling.

Sasha looked up at the spandex clad man in front of her with sickly green-grey tinted eyes to find him paused in mid bite. He slowly put down the fork. "Your eyes are really beginning to scare me. Almost as much as the idea of a mobster who has control over someone with spider powers." Sasha blinked in confusion. "You mean your eyes don't change color?" she asked. Spiderman watched her eyes go from the sickly green shade to a lighter blue-grey hue. "No. I don't think they've ever done that before…, but then again it could be gender specific," he added hesitantly. The two became contemplative for a while, finishing their plates of food.

Sasha picked up their plates after they had both finished their first serving. "Do you always need a lot of food after working out?" she asked as she dished up some more of the leftovers for her guest and herself, putting it in the microwave. "I did at first, but now my appetite is almost back to normal, except when I use up a lot of energy," he explained, taking a sip of his drink. "I used to keep snacks with me wherever I went so I wouldn't look unusual buying food all the time. A bag of chips or a candy bar will keep you from wanting to eat your arm for an hour or two until you can get something better." Sasha nodded, thinking that he had the right idea.

When the microwave dinged Sasha pulled out the freshly warmed plates of food. Then Spiderman dropped a large bomb, one that she had been dreading. "I suppose I should ask, what do you intend to do with your powers? I mean, I didn't always want to be a superhero, but something my uncle told me eventually made me change my mind, though I didn't pay any attention to him the first time," he said, a reminiscent tone coloring his voice. Sasha set his dish in front of him. "What's that?" she asked, delaying her answer to the original question. "He told me "with great power-

"-comes great responsibility."

"-comes great responsibility," they finished at the same time. Sasha looked up into his reflective eye plates, as the memory of her dream came back to her. "It _is_ you!" she whispered, amazement and a hint of awe in her voice. Spiderman jerked back a little as Sasha's eyes paled past her normal color to the same silvery-blue they had been during her gymnastics practice. "What?" he asked, panic evident in his voice.

Before he could deny anything, Sasha nimbly leapt forward and pulled off the hero's mask from where he had it rolled up to eat. There, beneath the red web-patterned spandex was a very familiar face. Sasha crossed her arms in annoyance as her suspicions were confirmed. "Hello, Peter," she said, her face as close to expressionless as she could get it. Her eyes, however, were a turmoil of black and silver.

Peter just knew that he was going to be gifted with another hole in a certain place where the sun didn't shine. In fact, Sasha had the exact same look on her face that she did that afternoon at the Anime Café. This time, however, her eyes were more prominent now that he knew to look at them. "Isn't there a rule against removing a superhero's mask?" he asked timidly, his voice reverting to his normal timbre. His brain simply wasn't caught up to how much trouble he was in, otherwise he would have thought of something a bit more apologetic to say.

Sasha's eyes narrowed at his comment. "Glad that you could join the conversation, Pete," she growled, her voice dripping venom. She watched Peter wince at her obvious anger. He barely caught the mask that she tossed back into his face. "Sasha," he began as she turned to walk towards her room. "Sasha, wait! At least let me explain myself, please. Sasha!"

Sasha paused, not used to hearing her friend beg. Even when she was angry at him earlier he had never begged. Reluctantly, she turned around to face her friend of two years. They locked eyes with each other, one gaze angry and hurt, while the other was pleading, almost desperate. "Well," she prompted softly, "I'm listening."

Peter dropped his gaze to the floor in guilt. "I'm sorry, Sash'. I didn't want to tell you until I was sure you were bitten. If you hadn't been and I told you, you would have been in even more danger than you already are," his fingers absently twisted the spandex parts of his mask, "Then when I _was_ sure there wasn't a good time to break it to you," he explained. Sasha shook her head. "You could have just come out and told me. I've been your "lil' sis" for how long now? You should know by now that you can trust me."

Peter shook his head. "That's not the problem. Both Aunt May and Mary Jane have already been used against me as Spiderman, I didn't want to have to worry about you, too," he murmured. Sasha smiled softly. "You idiot," she chuckled. She walked to where he was standing dejectedly and hugged him. "I told you I can take care of myself." Sasha felt her brother figure laugh against her as he hugged her back.

After they pulled back, Sasha punched Peter in the arm. "Ow!" he whined, "What was that for!?" Sasha mock-scowled at him. "That was for not trusting me you big jerk!" Pete gave her a kicked puppy look that made Sasha cringe inside. "I still don't think that a grown man should be able to pull that look off as well as you do," she told him, shaking her head in resignation. Peter laughed full out at her comment, pulling her back into the kitchen.

Half-way into there second serving of leftovers, Peter looked up from his plate to Sasha. "Hey, Sis? You still didn't answer my question from earlier. What do you want to do with your power? I mean, the way I figure it you could do one of two things. You could ignore them for the most part, using them only in emergencies and stuff. Or you could train your talents and help people like I do, although that's really, really dangerous and I'd prefer you took a safer route…," he said hopefully.

Sasha gave him a look that told him what she thought of that idea. In response to the look, Peter shrugged. "You can't blame a guy for trying," he said. Sasha rolled her eyes. "How often do I stay out of trouble when I could be in the thick of it?" she asked rhetorically. Peter raised an eyebrow. "How about when your father is involved," he replied in kind. Sasha scowled at him. "That is a horse of a different color,"(3) she informed him primly.

Peter sighed. "Unfortunately, this is one situation that you can't click your heels together to get rid of,"(3) he said. He finished the last bite of his plate, then sat back to look her square in the face. Sasha caught the look in his eye and flinched. "What? It's not the end of the world. If you help me train, I'll be better prepared to protect myself and others from my father and people like him."

"Sasha," Peter began, "That's the part that I'm really worried about. I mean, it's very easy to get hurt when you're playing with crooks that aren't afraid to kill what they fear." The concern that Sasha could see in his gaze was almost tangible, filling the air with tension. She almost wilted under the heavy emotion she felt her long time friend exuding.

Instead Sasha thought of a way to test the waters with out falling into the cold depths unwittingly. "How about this: you show me the tricks to using the spider-powers, then when I think I can handle it I will go with you on patrol. I'll stay out of it for the most part, unless my bro needs help of course. Then if you think I'm not ready for it, you keep training me until you think I'm ready to try it again," she concluded diplomatically. She watched Peter nod his agreement before pointing out, "Besides, isn't this your idea, Mister you-could-do-one-of-two-things?" Sasha smirked at her big bro's maroon blush.

Peter rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, it was that or you ending up as a bad-guy, in which case I would have to knock some sense into you. Then serve you to your mother for punishment," he finished threateningly. Sasha winced, then tried to cover her ass, "Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots." Peter chuckled and shook his head. "You are so horrible at trying to hide your fear of your mother." Sasha scowled at him. "Hey, if you had her as a taskmaster for the past few years of your life you would be afraid of her, too! As it is you're just as jumpy around her as I am when she's angry." Pete shrugged. "Point taken."

Sasha polished off her third plated of leftovers seconds before Peter pushed his half-full plate away. "Well, I'm stuffed," he said, suppressing a burp. "Does that mean I can have the rest of that?" Sasha inquired. "You're **still** hungry? Geeze, what have you been doing all day to get you this ravenous?" Peter asked amazed. Sasha ganked his plate while he gawked at her, mumbling, "I didn't get the chance to eat lunch on my break at the café," through a mouth full of food.

"Hey, that reminds me," Peter said, "what are you going to wear while you're with me? You can't exactly web-sling through the city in jeans and a shirt, especially if you want to keep a low profile. Even the stuff you wear to work makes it obvious who you are."

As soon as he mentioned her costumes, a light turned on in Sasha's mind. "Hey, I think I've got an idea, for the costume that is," she clarified a slow grin spreading across her face. Peter caught sight of the grin and flinched. "I'm not gonna like this at all am I?" Sasha shrugged, "Probably not. Remember that costume I wore last Halloween? The one that you really, really didn't like?"

Pete's response was as immediate as it was negative. "If you're talking about the dominatrix outfit with the long white wig, I reserve the right to reject out of hand as the Big Bro." Sasha gave him a look that expressed her opinion of his opinion. "I wasn't a dominatrix; I was Black Cat, the famous thief." Peter gave her a studious look. "Yeah, cause that's what you want people to think about when you're in costume. Besides, there are two major flaws in the costume." Sasha quirked an eyebrow, "And those would be?" Peter looked her straight in the eye and quiet seriously stated, "The cleavage, and the long hair, which _will_ get caught up. That's almost as bad as having a cape."

Sasha couldn't help herself. She burst into a raucous round of laughter that unbalanced her so much that she was forced to stand so as not to fall from her stool. When she finally gained enough breath to speak she couldn't help but poke a few holes in his 'major flaws'. "You're worried about my breasts? And you're giving me advice from a children's cartoon (4)?! What about all of the other powerful mutants going around in their bed sheet cast-offs and uncontrolled manes, hmmm? Are you going to tell Dr. Doom that his cape/coat thing is a liability? Or are you gonna tell Storm that her hair will get in the way, perhaps?"

Peter had the grace to look embarrassed before explaining his reasons. "They don't use their full body to fight, because they have long range powers…Plus we will have to swing through the city on webs to get places and I don't think that long wig is very good for that, plus you already complain about getting knots from gymnastics. And-"

Sasha rolled her warm aqua eyes at her Big Bro good naturedly. "I got your point! Besides, Sir Tangent, I was only talking about using the outfit, not the wig. Or the fur for that matter. And as for the cleavage, I'm a lot more modest than the actual Black Cat." Peter eyes widened in understanding. "Ah, well then, Lady Lost Topic, please continue…"

Sasha snorted at his newest title for her. "If the boobs really bother you, Bro, I could wear a different top. I wanted a spider somewhere on the costume anyway, just so I would be associated with you. The only real problems will be shoes, gloves and how to hide my natural hair color."

Peter stood and brought his plates to the sink. "Well, you go ahead and figure out your _perfect_ outfit-"

"Hey," Sasha interjected, "not funny!"

"-while I'll go enjoy my last few nights as a solo hero sans heart attacks."

"Again, hey!"

"So, please feel free to take your time, but I still get veto rights," he finished pulling on his mask.

"That's totally not fair, Peter. Besides, I'm sure I'll look better than _you_!" Sasha retorted as she followed Peter to the door. "So do you want a ride towards downtown or can you handle it?" she asked as he opened the door. "Nah, I could use a bit of roof hopping. Keeps up the leg muscles."

Sasha snorted. "As if you need to worry about that!" Peter paused for a moment, then looked down at his legs. "You really think so?" he asked, stretching them out in a pose for her to admire. "Eww! Big bro's chicken legs!!" Sasha squealed, pretending to choke on the disgust. Peter turned to look at her with what he was sure was a glare. "Funny!" he deadpanned.

Then he took a running jump towards the nearest part of her roof and swung himself up out of Sasha's sight. Sasha snorted at his overly dramatic exit before turning back into the house and locking the door. She had a long night ahead of her. How the hell was she supposed to come up with an outfit that Peter would approve of?

Authoress' Notes

1) Does anyone else but me talk back to their stomachs? No? Meh, oh well.

2) A plate of my best "flan con caramello" y rum" to whoever can remember what this line is from! (and a weird look to those who can't. I mean, come on, it's only one of the greatest movies ever!)

3) Yes, both of these are shameless references to the Wizard of Oz

4) The Incredible's rock!

Alright, so now my original computer is gone forever. I had a PC burial for it and everything! So here I am on my new Dell!!! Hell ya! Well, I haven't abandoned this story (despite all appearances) and do, in fact, intend to finish it at some point. Unfortunately I seem to have taken a slight detour... I originally had her go out with Pete to do some crime fighting before skipping ahead in time. Then when typing I realized that would be a little to fast, so now I'm in tangent-land the place where writers go to be blocked or rejuvenated. Only time will tell. If nothing goes wrong I should complete another chapter in the next two months. Review if you like the story!!!


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